Infiltrate the Prime Minister’s Manor (Part One)
Gu ShuBai looked in the direction that she was pointing.
The jujube tree looked quite old. The brown and yellow trunk was leaning to one side, and the further up the tree they looked, the more the tree was leaning. At the top, a few dead leaves clung to the branches, while the rest had already fallen to the ground.
“Is there something wrong with this jujube tree?”
Yu Fu enigmatically led him below the tree and kicked the fallen leaves to the side, “Eldest brother, look. There’s absolutely no sign of any fruit having landed on the dirt here. It’s evident that the person living here would pick the ripe fruit and not allow it to rot.”
“Now, look at the rotting fruits above. The owner of this residence lived in poverty and would always pick the fruit to eat it or trade it for some rice. In the current situation, he left without picking the ripe fruit. It’s clear that he was in a rush.”
Gu ShuBai carefully inspected the ground. If the fruit had fallen to the ground and rotted naturally, there would surely be fruit seeds left behind, but he did not see any signs of fruit seeds.
It was clear that Yu Fu’s speculation was correct.
He said: “This is good news. If the person living here left in a hurry, it’s very likely that they have not been killed and silenced. Both of them were trained in martial arts, so it’s possible that they are currently hiding somewhere. If we can find them first, we would have the all-important witness.”
It would be best if they could avoid using Kun YuYang as a witness.
The first consideration was her sensitive identity. As long as the eldest prince and his faction pointed out that she was the princess of an enemy state, Kun YuYang’s testimony would be difficult to believe.
The second consideration was that she only heard others talking about it. If the eldest prince and his faction wanted to argue that they were not his subordinates, it would not be hard to deny.
Kun YuYang was currently living in Marquis Gu’s Manor because they were worried about them seeking to get revenge. This caused Ning TangShu to visit Marquis Gu’s Manor every day.
Yu Fu stroked her chi, “If Baibu Yang and the owner of this courtyard are still alive, the eldest prince will surely be devoting all of his efforts to finding him. Jianghu is vast, and we are starting so much later than the eldest prince. Will we really be able to find them first?”
Her words caused Gu ShuBai to come up with a new train of thought, “You’re right. If they are still alive, it means that the eldest prince has been looking for a long time without being able to find them. Why should we start looking for them from the beginning? The ancestors can plant the trees, while the younger generation can enjoy their shade.”
Yu Fu mischievously pointed at him, “Oh… I understand. Eldest brother is so sinister, actually thinking of having the eldest prince work for us.”
The so-called ancestors planting trees and younger generation enjoying them would just require some of the specialists from the Gu family’s army to follow the eldest prince’s subordinates. Once the eldest prince’s people found Baibu Yang, they would take that opportunity to take him away.
This would be much faster than if they started looking for him now.
Gu ShuBai raised an eyebrow and said without any remorse, “The opposition took advantage of the time when we were fighting the enemy on the border to kill our ruler, and they actually dare to use His Majesty’s assassination to snatch the throne. That’s truly sinister. Using sinister methods to deal with sinister people cannot be considered sinister.”
“Then what is it called?”
“It’s called karma. Retribution is never pleasant.”
…
Inside the prime minister’s manor, the servants were rushing around while looking very flustered.
The Eastern Courtyard had always been lush and beautiful, but everyone in the manor did their best to avoid it for fear of bad luck.
Ever since that day that Princess DanYang entered the palace to accuse the eldest prince and Yin Shuo, she had been placed under house arrest by Yin Shuo. The orders were to not allow anyone to see her.
Everyone in the prime minister’s manor served Yin Shuo. Not even the grannies and palace maids that Princess DanYang had brought with her could go out. They could do nothing but stay in the Eastern Courtyard and cry.
Amidst the crying, Princess DanYang wore an indifferent expression, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Thin, dull, and haggard.
She suddenly remembered Yin JiYao. Was she just like Yin JiYao when she had her beauty ruined?
No, she was even worse off than her.
At the very least, she still had her purity, and she did not need to love someone who hated her. She also would not be humiliated like this.
She had thought that he was getting closer to her because he had started to like her. She did not realize that Yin Shuo was exacting his revenge until her body was covered in injuries.
It was exactly as he had said under the osmanthus trees. He would never forget how she had humiliated him.
Princess DanYang closed her eyes and thought back to the heartbreak that she had felt when she first heard that Emperor Ning had died. What had caused her to feel even more terrified was that the second prince had been framed for the murder.
He was her brother. She understood very well that the second prince could not possibly have assassinated Emperor Ning.
She tried to go and speak to Yin Shuo to have him help get justice for the second prince; however, while she was outside the outer study’s courtyard, she happened to hear that the one to frame the second prince was Yin Shuo.
After that, she was put under house arrest, and she could do nothing but cry day and night for Emperor Ning’s passing and mourn the second prince’s imprisonment.
She had never been so aware of the fact that once Emperor Ning and the second prince were gone, she would be someone who had absolutely no backing.
It was only after news of Marquis Gu’s return to the capital had spread and Gu ShuBai had sent someone to the prime minister’s manor to extract her that she finally had a chance to go into the palace and speak on the second prince’s behalf.
What she got in return, however, was a slap from Yin Shuo. In addition to this, she was put under house arrest and heavily guarded.
“Everyone stop crying. What are you crying for?”
She suddenly stood up and blankly looked at Dian’er and the others, “You were all brought out of the palace by this princess. You represent this princess and the dignity of the imperial family. Even if you are going to die, you can’t die while weeping. That would be letting that traitor, Yin Shuo, win. Do you understand?”
Her referring to Yin Shuo as a traitor scared the servants into crying even louder.
Dian’er was the palace maid closest to her. Barely able to suppress the fear in her heart, she stepped forward to support her, “It was we servants who were wrong. Princess isn’t frightened in the face of danger, and we servants should learn from princess. Princess, don’t worry. The court is investigating His Majesty’s assassination. With Lord Marquis Gu present, he absolutely will not allow you to continue to suffer!”
Lord Marquis Gu.
Princess DanYang’s heart slowly started to soften.
She recalled the day that she had gone into the palace. Gu HuaiJiang had personally helped her up. She also thought of how Gu ShuBai had stood behind her and quietly supported her.
She had previously been obsessed with Gu ShuBai, and she had opposed Yu Fu because of this. The people of Marquis Gu’s Manor should be opposed to her.
She never thought that when everyone distanced themselves from her relatives, the ones to support her would be the members of Marquis Gu’s Manor.
She reluctantly nodded and quietly said: “If anyone from Marquis Gu’s Manor comes again, you absolutely must tell me. In the open and in the shadows, this courtyard is full of that traitor’s people. I would rather never go out than see them die trying to help me.”
Dian’er bit her lip and nodded.
After a long pause, she finally said: “Princess, if Lord Marquis Gu fails, and His Highness the second prince can’t be saved, what would happen to us?”
“What would happen?”
Princess DanYang could not help but let out a laugh, suddenly remembering the time that she had foolishly believed that Yin Shuo had fallen in love with her. Dian’er had expressed her concerns and confusion many times.
How great would it have been if she had listened to Dian’er back then instead of the granny. How was that something that every newlywed woman had to go through?
At that time, she had been young and naive, and it was now too late to regret it.
“At worst, we will die. What else could it be…
Her voice was full of mourning. It was as if she was performing a play on stage. She stretched out her words before they ultimately dissipated with the wind.
…
On the roof, a grey figure lay flat against the roof tiles without moving.
At a glance, his clothes were the same color as the roof tiles, thus it was impossible to see that there was someone up there.
Gu HanMo had been laying there for quite some time. After determining that nobody has noticed him, he moved swiftly and descended, entering Princess DanYang’s bed chamber through an open window.
Dian’er was keen-eyed and noticed a figure in the bronze mirror. Just as she was about to scream, she suddenly remembered that Yin Shuo’s people would not need to be so clandestine.
Could it be someone from Marquis Gu’s Manor?
She immediately winked at Princess DanYang. The relationship between master and servant had been built up over many yeras, and they had formed a tacit understanding. Though Princess DanYang did not know what had happened, she still spoke to the other servants: “You can all go out. Don’t let me hear any more crying in the Eastern Courtyard. Do you really want me to die that badly?”
A fallen phoenix was still a phoenix, and the servants did not dare to make any mistakes. They did not dare to bear the burden of a princess’ death.
They then retreated from the room. When they all left, Princess DanYang turned around and saw Gu HanMo standing behind her in a set of grey clothes. He still had his usual expressionless demeanor.
“Third young sir?”
Gu HanMo nodded, “I might be discovered at any moment, so I will keep it brief. Father ordered me to come and ask princess. Do you want to continue to stay in the prime minister’s manor, or do you wish to return to the palace? If you want to return to the palace, he can make use of Yu Fu’s name to get princess out. Yin Shuo will have no way to stop you.”
Dian’er rejoiced upon hearing this, as she was all too eager to agree on Princess DanYang’s behalf; however, she saw that her brow was tightly furrowed. She did not know what she was thinking about.
“Princess, quickly respond!”
As long as they could return to the palace, even if Imperial Consort Xian and the eldest prince were there, at the very least, they would not dare to treat her as she had been treated in the prime minister’s manor. They also would not need to fear for her life.
It could not possibly be clearer what she should choose, so why was she still hesitating?
Infiltrate the Prime Minister’s Manor (Part One)
Gu ShuBai looked in the direction that she was pointing.
The jujube tree looked quite old. The brown and yellow trunk was leaning to one side, and the further up the tree they looked, the more the tree was leaning. At the top, a few dead leaves clung to the branches, while the rest had already fallen to the ground.
“Is there something wrong with this jujube tree?”
Yu Fu enigmatically led him below the tree and kicked the fallen leaves to the side, “Eldest brother, look. There’s absolutely no sign of any fruit having landed on the dirt here. It’s evident that the person living here would pick the ripe fruit and not allow it to rot.”
“Now, look at the rotting fruits above. The owner of this residence lived in poverty and would always pick the fruit to eat it or trade it for some rice. In the current situation, he left without picking the ripe fruit. It’s clear that he was in a rush.”
Gu ShuBai carefully inspected the ground. If the fruit had fallen to the ground and rotted naturally, there would surely be fruit seeds left behind, but he did not see any signs of fruit seeds.
It was clear that Yu Fu’s speculation was correct.
He said: “This is good news. If the person living here left in a hurry, it’s very likely that they have not been killed and silenced. Both of them were trained in martial arts, so it’s possible that they are currently hiding somewhere. If we can find them first, we would have the all-important witness.”
It would be best if they could avoid using Kun YuYang as a witness.
The first consideration was her sensitive identity. As long as the eldest prince and his faction pointed out that she was the princess of an enemy state, Kun YuYang’s testimony would be difficult to believe.
The second consideration was that she only heard others talking about it. If the eldest prince and his faction wanted to argue that they were not his subordinates, it would not be hard to deny.
Kun YuYang was currently living in Marquis Gu’s Manor because they were worried about them seeking to get revenge. This caused Ning TangShu to visit Marquis Gu’s Manor every day.
Yu Fu stroked her chi, “If Baibu Yang and the owner of this courtyard are still alive, the eldest prince will surely be devoting all of his efforts to finding him. Jianghu is vast, and we are starting so much later than the eldest prince. Will we really be able to find them first?”
Her words caused Gu ShuBai to come up with a new train of thought, “You’re right. If they are still alive, it means that the eldest prince has been looking for a long time without being able to find them. Why should we start looking for them from the beginning? The ancestors can plant the trees, while the younger generation can enjoy their shade.”
Yu Fu mischievously pointed at him, “Oh… I understand. Eldest brother is so sinister, actually thinking of having the eldest prince work for us.”
The so-called ancestors planting trees and younger generation enjoying them would just require some of the specialists from the Gu family’s army to follow the eldest prince’s subordinates. Once the eldest prince’s people found Baibu Yang, they would take that opportunity to take him away.
This would be much faster than if they started looking for him now.
Gu ShuBai raised an eyebrow and said without any remorse, “The opposition took advantage of the time when we were fighting the enemy on the border to kill our ruler, and they actually dare to use His Majesty’s assassination to snatch the throne. That’s truly sinister. Using sinister methods to deal with sinister people cannot be considered sinister.”
“Then what is it called?”
“It’s called karma. Retribution is never pleasant.”
…
Inside the prime minister’s manor, the servants were rushing around while looking very flustered.
The Eastern Courtyard had always been lush and beautiful, but everyone in the manor did their best to avoid it for fear of bad luck.
Ever since that day that Princess DanYang entered the palace to accuse the eldest prince and Yin Shuo, she had been placed under house arrest by Yin Shuo. The orders were to not allow anyone to see her.
Everyone in the prime minister’s manor served Yin Shuo. Not even the grannies and palace maids that Princess DanYang had brought with her could go out. They could do nothing but stay in the Eastern Courtyard and cry.
Amidst the crying, Princess DanYang wore an indifferent expression, as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.
Thin, dull, and haggard.
She suddenly remembered Yin JiYao. Was she just like Yin JiYao when she had her beauty ruined?
No, she was even worse off than her.
At the very least, she still had her purity, and she did not need to love someone who hated her. She also would not be humiliated like this.
She had thought that he was getting closer to her because he had started to like her. She did not realize that Yin Shuo was exacting his revenge until her body was covered in injuries.
It was exactly as he had said under the osmanthus trees. He would never forget how she had humiliated him.
Princess DanYang closed her eyes and thought back to the heartbreak that she had felt when she first heard that Emperor Ning had died. What had caused her to feel even more terrified was that the second prince had been framed for the murder.
He was her brother. She understood very well that the second prince could not possibly have assassinated Emperor Ning.
She tried to go and speak to Yin Shuo to have him help get justice for the second prince; however, while she was outside the outer study’s courtyard, she happened to hear that the one to frame the second prince was Yin Shuo.
After that, she was put under house arrest, and she could do nothing but cry day and night for Emperor Ning’s passing and mourn the second prince’s imprisonment.
She had never been so aware of the fact that once Emperor Ning and the second prince were gone, she would be someone who had absolutely no backing.
It was only after news of Marquis Gu’s return to the capital had spread and Gu ShuBai had sent someone to the prime minister’s manor to extract her that she finally had a chance to go into the palace and speak on the second prince’s behalf.
What she got in return, however, was a slap from Yin Shuo. In addition to this, she was put under house arrest and heavily guarded.
“Everyone stop crying. What are you crying for?”
She suddenly stood up and blankly looked at Dian’er and the others, “You were all brought out of the palace by this princess. You represent this princess and the dignity of the imperial family. Even if you are going to die, you can’t die while weeping. That would be letting that traitor, Yin Shuo, win. Do you understand?”
Her referring to Yin Shuo as a traitor scared the servants into crying even louder.
Dian’er was the palace maid closest to her. Barely able to suppress the fear in her heart, she stepped forward to support her, “It was we servants who were wrong. Princess isn’t frightened in the face of danger, and we servants should learn from princess. Princess, don’t worry. The court is investigating His Majesty’s assassination. With Lord Marquis Gu present, he absolutely will not allow you to continue to suffer!”
Lord Marquis Gu.
Princess DanYang’s heart slowly started to soften.
She recalled the day that she had gone into the palace. Gu HuaiJiang had personally helped her up. She also thought of how Gu ShuBai had stood behind her and quietly supported her.
She had previously been obsessed with Gu ShuBai, and she had opposed Yu Fu because of this. The people of Marquis Gu’s Manor should be opposed to her.
She never thought that when everyone distanced themselves from her relatives, the ones to support her would be the members of Marquis Gu’s Manor.
She reluctantly nodded and quietly said: “If anyone from Marquis Gu’s Manor comes again, you absolutely must tell me. In the open and in the shadows, this courtyard is full of that traitor’s people. I would rather never go out than see them die trying to help me.”
Dian’er bit her lip and nodded.
After a long pause, she finally said: “Princess, if Lord Marquis Gu fails, and His Highness the second prince can’t be saved, what would happen to us?”
“What would happen?”
Princess DanYang could not help but let out a laugh, suddenly remembering the time that she had foolishly believed that Yin Shuo had fallen in love with her. Dian’er had expressed her concerns and confusion many times.
How great would it have been if she had listened to Dian’er back then instead of the granny. How was that something that every newlywed woman had to go through?
At that time, she had been young and naive, and it was now too late to regret it.
“At worst, we will die. What else could it be…
Her voice was full of mourning. It was as if she was performing a play on stage. She stretched out her words before they ultimately dissipated with the wind.
…
On the roof, a grey figure lay flat against the roof tiles without moving.
At a glance, his clothes were the same color as the roof tiles, thus it was impossible to see that there was someone up there.
Gu HanMo had been laying there for quite some time. After determining that nobody has noticed him, he moved swiftly and descended, entering Princess DanYang’s bed chamber through an open window.
Dian’er was keen-eyed and noticed a figure in the bronze mirror. Just as she was about to scream, she suddenly remembered that Yin Shuo’s people would not need to be so clandestine.
Could it be someone from Marquis Gu’s Manor?
She immediately winked at Princess DanYang. The relationship between master and servant had been built up over many yeras, and they had formed a tacit understanding. Though Princess DanYang did not know what had happened, she still spoke to the other servants: “You can all go out. Don’t let me hear any more crying in the Eastern Courtyard. Do you really want me to die that badly?”
A fallen phoenix was still a phoenix, and the servants did not dare to make any mistakes. They did not dare to bear the burden of a princess’ death.
They then retreated from the room. When they all left, Princess DanYang turned around and saw Gu HanMo standing behind her in a set of grey clothes. He still had his usual expressionless demeanor.
“Third young sir?”
Gu HanMo nodded, “I might be discovered at any moment, so I will keep it brief. Father ordered me to come and ask princess. Do you want to continue to stay in the prime minister’s manor, or do you wish to return to the palace? If you want to return to the palace, he can make use of Yu Fu’s name to get princess out. Yin Shuo will have no way to stop you.”
Dian’er rejoiced upon hearing this, as she was all too eager to agree on Princess DanYang’s behalf; however, she saw that her brow was tightly furrowed. She did not know what she was thinking about.
“Princess, quickly respond!”
As long as they could return to the palace, even if Imperial Consort Xian and the eldest prince were there, at the very least, they would not dare to treat her as she had been treated in the prime minister’s manor. They also would not need to fear for her life.
It could not possibly be clearer what she should choose, so why was she still hesitating?
